1. It's All About Vinyl

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The Listening Suite celebrates 75 years of vinyl with our very own Hifiology Blog ‘It’s All About Vinyl’

Click on the links below to find out more about your Turntable, Tonearm, Cartridge & Stylus, The Settings and Phonostage. 

Record Player, Record Deck, Turntable

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/record-player-record-deck-turntable/

Topics covered:

1. The Platter (Main Platter or Sub Platter)

2. Heavy or Light Platter on Heavy or Light Chassis

3. Suspended or Rigid Chassis Design

4. Platter Bearing, Platter Mats, Record Clamp or Weight, Outer Ring Clamps

5. Belt, Belt Drive / Direct Drive, Plinth Mounted Motor / Outboard Motor, The Plinth

6. Where to Place Your Turntable

The Stylus - Shapes, Types

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-stylus-shapes-types/

Topics covered:

1. Why are some Styli & Cartridges more expensive than others ?

2. Shapes & Types, Conical / Spherical, Elliptical / Hyperelliptical Bi or Dual Radial

3. Advanced Stylus Shapes, Line Contact, Fine Line, Micro-Line, Micro-Ridge, Shibata, Stereohedron

4. Reasons for Investing and Upgrading your Cartridge and Stylus

5. The Vinyl Groove, The Cutting Engineer, RIAA Equalisation Curve

The Stylus - Needle in the Groove

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-stylus-needle-in-the-groove/ 

Topics covered:

Stylus alignment settings

1. Zenith

2. Azimuth

3. SRA / VTA

4. VTF

5. Antiskating / Bias

The Cartridge - Moving Magnet or Coil

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-cartridge-moving-magnet-or-coil/

1. How a cartridge operates

2. The Moving Magnet & Moving Coil Cartridge

3. Moving Magnet & Moving Coil Designs

4. There are three types of Moving Coil Cartridges, Low, Medium, High output 

The Cartridge - The Assembly

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-cartridge-the-assembly/

Topics covered:

An electromagnetic generator otherwise known as a cartridge, can be divided into 4 separate sections.

(1) Physical - Cartridge Body, Cartridge Weight, Cartridge Size

(2) Mechanical - Stylus Type, Stylus Radius, Cantilever Material, Tracking Force, Tracking Ability, Compliance,

      Resonant Frequency, Desired Resonant Frequency

(3) Electrical - Cartridge Type, Cartridge Output Voltage, Cartridge Output Impedance,

      Phono Stage Load Impedance / Resistance and Capacitance

(4) Audio - Frequency Response, Channel Balance, Channel Separation

The Tonearm - Shapes & Sizes

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-tonearm-shapes-sizes/

Topics covered:

Tonearm Sections

(1) The cartridge mounting point or head shell position.

(2) The arm or wand.

(3) Tonearm Bearing or Unipivot point.

(4) Counter weight.

     Tonearm Designs: 9” 10” 12” I, J or S type

     Tonearm Bearing Designs, Parallel, Gimbal - Ball, Knife and Jewelled, UniPivot, Magnetic

The Tonearm - Geometry & terms

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-tonearm-geometry-terms/

Topics covered:

1. Cartridge & Stylus Alignment, Tangential or Zero Tracking Error, Geometrical Arcs

2. Löfgren A/B - Baerwald - Stevenson Inner & Outer Null Points

3. Pivot to Spindle Distance, Effective Length, Overhang

4. Zenith Offset Angle, Linear Offset, Inner & Outer Groove Radius

The Phonostage

https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/the-phono-stage/

Topics covered:

1. The Vinyl Groove, The Cutting Engineer and the RIAA Pre-Emphasis Equalisation Curve

2. The Equaliser Section and the RIAA De-Emphasis Playback Equalisation Curve

3. Line Amplifier Section and Electrical Specifications

4. Input Settings for a Moving Magnet & Moving Coil Cartridge,

5. Impedance / Resistance, Capacitance & Gain Settings, Adjusting The Settings

6. Room Acoustics and how they effect your choice of settings

7. Low and Medium Output Moving Coil Cartridges & Step-Up Transformers

8. Why use a Step-Up Transformer